towndock.net

Oriental, NC

Grace is famous! (towndock.net  - the Oriental, on-line daily) And I have the BEST cousins! What a terrific, social day with lots of sunshine and little wind and we only had to wait for one barge/tug combo.

We called our Alligator River buddy boaters to see if they wanted to join us at The Bean, the coffee/ice cream shop we face when we dock at the Free town dock. We arrived a bit before friends, met a man from Harpswell, ME, who has lived in Oriental for 35 years but still goes "home" for a couple of weeks in the summer. Chatted with him and another with Maine connections and had made fast friends when our boat buddies arrived. More chatting and panning and getting to know each other over coffee and bagels.

Then off to the "Provisions" store which has a bit of everything including a swap library. I gave 2 books and got 1 for later. David and I met Fordyce who owns a 43' Nauticat that he expects to launch on Wednesday. It has been on the hard for a while being repaired. He's heading south so we expect to run into him again.

We took a long walk to find the house my aunt's neighbor owns. Success. It is not being rented just now but is in a lovely spot away from the water.

I really like this little town and today, especially, there was the distinct taste of spring in the air. People riding their bikes, some in shorts (!), lots of people walking. The Bean is clearly a local hang-out and gathering place. Don't know who posted Grace photos but we were known even before we got off the boat. Mary and Peter told us there were people sitting out on the porch yesterday eating ice cream! Yep, spring.

This pic is looking toward the Neuse River from the head of the free town dock. Grace is to the left and The Bean is behind me/you. It is a working waterfront with several marinas along the river, both sides.

We left Oriental around 12:30. David left me at the dock. We were both pushing the boat off. I was to wait until the mid-ship was level with the last piling then jump aboard. When the last piling was amidship the boat was too far for me to jump. Oops. I was pretty confident he wouldn't really leave me. He came back. Phew! It would have been a really expensive taxi ride to Morehead City.

Easy, beautiful, calm trip across the Neuse River and down the canal and into a bay around Beaufort and Morehead City.

The middle of the photo at the right is a tug with a barge. We both arrived at the bridge opening about the same time. We hailed the tug on the radio and said we'd wait for him to get through. Duh. Of course, we'll wait. There's no room to pass and he is so much bigger and heavier than we are.

We arrived at our dock around 4 PM. Cousins, Pat and Kathryn, met us here around 4:30 and took us to do the errands we needed. They brought us a little propane heater we'd requested. And they took us to Staples and to get a big bottle of propane for cooking. We had dinner together and they drove the 1.5 hours back to their home in Winterville. What sweet troopers they are to accommodate us and visit.

 And here on the right we have my Cat Grass Garden. Another sign of spring (!??). I try to have one grown garden of cat grass and one on the way.

Warmth, light, calm seas - I'm thriving again rather than just surviving.


Barefoot in the cabin, too.